Over the course of the past month, we have seen an avalanche of change within the Southern Conference, losing two additional members (Davidson and Elon) to go along with the other three that had previously announced they were leaving (Appalachian State, Georgia Southern and College of Charleston). Last week, East Tennessee State, Mercer, and VMI were invited to become the newest members of the Southern Conference. College of Charleston will leave us affective June 30, 2013 while the other four do not officially leave until June 30, 2014.
Believe me when I tell you the comments I have received on this are wide ranging, everything from “glad to see them go” to “WCU needs to jump into the ACC”.
I would first like to take a moment to make sure everyone in Catamount Nation understands WHY each school departed. First, Appalachian State and Georgia Southern left for one reason: football. Moving to the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) level from the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) level was a decision focused on one sport. Both of these institutions have been very upfront about “moving up” for several years, so their departures, although painful to many of you, did not come as a surprise.
The decisions made by Elon and College of Charleston were admissions driven. Both of these institutions decided to join the Colonial Athletic Association to utilize the presence of their athletic teams to try and gain additional students from the Mid-Atlantic region. In neither case was athletic competition a motivating factor for either institution, it simply came down to trying to increase student enrollment, specifically from a region where each institution already draws a large percentage of their respective student bodies.
Davidson, while also appearing to be an admissions decision, did join the Atlantic-10 Conference, which is a “basketball-centric” conference. Since Davidson sponsors non-scholarship football, I do think there was consideration given to the fact that the Atlantic-10 focuses primarily on basketball. I cannot fathom that was not a significant factor in Davidson’s move. It is extremely important to realize that there was very little, IF ANYTHING, the Southern Conference Office could have done to prevent these five institutions from departing.
The three new members of the conference (ETSU, Mercer and VMI) will join us in the summer of 2014. Having been on each of these three campuses and meeting with members of the respective coaching and administrative staffs, I believe these three new members will be competing for conference championships in many sports from day one (ETSU & Mercer are competing in the NCAA Baseball Regionals as I type!). And although VMI is the only one of the three that currently sponsors football, all three will be competing in football by the fall of 2015.
To answer questions about why WCU should or should not look for a new conference, I will start with the easiest: you must be ASKED to join a conference, you cannot simply invite yourself. Appalachian and Georgia Southern were asked to join the Sun Belt primarily due to the success of their football programs. Elon and College of Charleston were asked to strengthen the southern flank of the Colonial, and in part due to the Colonial’s desire to increase the number of private institutions among their ranks. Davidson, similar to ASU and GSU, was primarily asked to join the A-10 due to the past success of their Men’s Basketball program. Our most successful program over the past decade has been track, and not many conferences are looking for new members solely due to a strong track program.
My next point is: why would we want to leave? Many people see the sky falling; I see opportunity. Just as when the ACC was formed or when Marshal left several decades later, the Southern Conference not only survived, it has thrived! As some have left over the years, others have filled the void. This is our chance to step up and become a leader in all SoCon sports! Remember, NCAA post-season opportunities remain with each conference, so we still have those same opportunities year to year, but now with a maximum of ten schools participating in a given sport, our odds in earning a post-season berth have increased already.
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